Dwelling approvals in Australia rise 0.8% in March

The number of dwellings approved in Australiarose 0.8 per cent in March 2017, in trend terms, after falling for nine months, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

Dwelling approvals increased in March in New South Wales (3.0 per cent), Tasmania (1.6 per cent), Queensland (0.5 per cent) and Victoria (0.3 per cent), but decreased in the Northern Territory (19.1 per cent), Australian Capital Territory (7.1 per cent), Western Australia (1.9 per cent) and South Australia (0.1 per cent) in trend terms.

In trend terms, approvals for private sector houses fell 0.6 per cent in March. Private sector house approvals fell in Queensland (2.0 per cent), South Australia (0.4 per cent) and Victoria (0.3 per cent), but rose in New South Wales (0.3 per cent) and Western Australia (0.1 per cent).

In seasonally adjusted terms, dwelling approvals decreased by 13.4 per cent in March, driven by a fall in total dwellings excluding houses (22.0 per cent) and total house approvals (5.0 per cent).

The value of total buildings approved rose 0.1 per cent in March, in trend terms, after falling for seven months. The value of residential building approved rose 1.0 per cent while non-residential building approved fell 1.9 per cent.